Stacked Cheese Enchilada with Red Chile Sauce

Stacked Cheese Enchilada

Serves 4

Stacked enchiladas, also known as enchiladas montadas or New Mexican style enchiladas, offer a fun twist on the traditional rolled variety. Instead of rolling the tortillas, layers of corn tortillas are stacked with fillings and topped with enchilada sauce, creating a mouthwatering stack you won’t want to share! This flavorful dish brings together the textures of crisp tortillas with gooey, melty cheese, complemented by the flavorful spice of the enchilada sauce.

Ingredients:
1 small yellow onion, small dice
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds Queso Fresco, crumbled
Cooking oil, for frying
16 (6-inch) corn tortillas
2 cups red Chile sauce (recipe follows)
1/2 cup Cotija cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons cilantro, minced for garnish

Instructions:
1. Heat a sauté pan to medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon cooking oil, when hot, add onions, jalapeno, and salt. Sauté vegetables until tender and slightly browned, remove from pan and place in mixing bowl. Wipe out pan with paper towel. Add Queso Fresco to mixing bowl and mix to combine with vegetables. Set aside.
2. Heat 1″ oil in a large skillet. Fry tortillas one at a time until edges are crisp, about 30 seconds. Drain on paper towels on wire rack.
3. Heat Chile sauce over medium high heat in sauce pan until simmering.
4. To assemble, ladle a tablespoon of the heated sauce in the center of a plate. Dredge a tortilla with sauce by dipping in the saucepan, place on plate, and cover with 1/8 cup cheese–onion mixture; repeat twice, and top with a fourth dipped tortilla. Keep warm in a low oven while you assemble other plates.
5. When ready to serve, spoon a bit more sauce over each enchilada and top with Cotija cheese and cilantro.

Red Chile Sauce

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:
3 ounces Dried New Mexico Red Chile Pods, seeds and stems removed
6 cloves garlic, peeled
4 cups water
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried cumin
Kosher salt, to taste

Instructions:
1. Bring water to a boil in large stock pot.
2. Add the dried Chile pods and garlic to the boiling water and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Remove the Chile and garlic with slotted spoon and place in the blender. Add 1 cup of the water the Chile cooked in to the blender. Add 1 teaspoon salt, tomato sauce, onion powder, oregano and cumin. Pulse until the Chile sauce is completely smooth.
4. Remove remaining cooking water from pan, add blended sauce to pan, bring to boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
5. If the sauce is too bitter, add more salt to balance the flavor.